[pbs] Erythronium revolutum and Thoughts on Moist, Wet, Damp, and Well-drained
totototo at telus.net
totototo at telus.net
Tue May 23 18:36:33 EDT 2006
I was browsing through the wiki and looked at the Erythronium page to
see what it had to say about the species I'm familiar with. The
comment was made about Erythronium revolutum that it likes damp, well-
drained conditions.
My own experience with this plant is that it likes to grow within
sound of running water. In other words, it grows near streams. I've
seen it thriving along Sutton Creek in sites that are clearly flooded
during winter high-water.
"Damp" and "well-drained" in the same breath may seem like an
oxymoron, but the point it that while E.r. wants moisture, it doesn't
want *stagnant* moisture. It's a streamside plant, not a lakeside or
swamp/marsh/bog plant.
At the same time, it takes fairly well to summer drought, as long as
it doesn't get a baking in the sun like a Central Asian tulip. The
same sites on Sutton Creek don't perhaps get as dry as does my
garden, but plants collected there (well upstream from the BC govt
ecological reserve!) have continued to thrive in the garden with
little or no summer water. I will admit that the garden plants are
not as robust in growth as they were in the wild.
--
Rodger Whitlock
Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Maritime Zone 8, a cool Mediterranean climate
on beautiful Vancouver Island
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